A guide to fruity sauces for everyone but particularly good for novice cooks to start cooking by taste and without a recipe. These can be used in many ways including…
-pancakes
-waffles
-crepes (my favorite)
-ice cream
-un-frosted cakes… some good ones include Deborah Madison's Poppy Seed Cake and endless variations of yogurt cake (just go here and here and search for yogurt cake for ideas and recipes)
-bread, rice or tapioca pudding
-biscuits (recipe(s) in earlier post)
-plain yogurt
A big part of modern diets consists of processed foods, most of which are ready to eat convenience foods… prepare them according to the instructions and eat. Their flavor profile is fixed so the only change consumers can make is to add more seasoning. In a real sense, these foods have trained consumer tastebuds to prefer the flavor profile of processed foods. This means that cooking by taste is a completely foreign concept to novice cooks. The notion of changing flavors of something in a pot by adding a pinch of this or shake of that can be intimidating. What if I put in too much salt? Oh sh*t, I added too much sauce! It’s not always possible to compensate for over seasoning errors.
That’s what makes these sauces good for new cooks: it is almost impossible to ruin them. The process involves cooking the fruit and adding lemon juice and sugar until the flavors taste balance. The goal is that sweet spot where the bright acidity of the lemon juice and fruit contrasts perfectly with just the right amount of sweetness. If you overshoot that balance with too much lemon juice, add a little sugar to adjust the flavor and vice versa. Should it be necessary, the flavors can be adjusted at the table. It’s easier to control added sugar so when in doubt, err on the tart side.
These are sauces I make regularly depending on what’s in season (often what I find on sale). Start with the basic fruit, lemon juice and sugar. Once you are comfortable with these three, you can seriously substitute ingredients (balsamic vinegar or lime juice in place of lemon juice; honey or brown sugar instead of white sugar, maybe a touch of molasses); play with spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, apple pie spice… start with tiny amounts and work up gradually); amp up flavor with extracts, zests or liquors, again start small and increase gradually).
Note: Suggestions of cooking temperature are all to avoiding scorching. These sauces are sensitive to scorching because of either high sugar or consistency (thick sauce is more sensitive than thin). These sauces are an excellent way to use overripe fruit.
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Cheater’s sauce
any fruit jam or marmalade
lemon juice to taste
Commercial jams, jellies and marmalades tend to be very sweet. To make a fast dessert sauce, spoon some amount of jam into a small saucepan and warm over low to medium heat. The key is to avoid scorching the sugar. Stir in lemon juice until your desired balance of sweet and tart is reached. For a thinner sauce, add water, a little at a time until the right consistency is reached. Bring sauce to a simmer remove from heat. Serve warm or cold.
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raspberry and/or blackberry sauce
~1 cup juice from fresh or frozen berries (I don’t like the seeds)
~1/2 cup sugar
0.1-0.5 oz good quality dark chocolate* (optional; I’ve never tried milk chocolate)
lemon juice if needed
Rinse and discard spoiled fruit. Cook over medium in a saucepan until berries soften and remove seeds by pushing berry pulp through a fine mesh strainer (or possibly a food mill). Heat juice in saucepan over medium heat, add a little less than 1/2 cup sugar (and optional chocolate*) and stir to dissolve sugar. Taste. Add sugar, a heaping teaspoon at a time, until desired balance is reach. If too sweet, add tiny amount of lemon juice until just right. Bring sauce to a simmer and remove from heat. Serve warm or cold. Good in the refrigerator for about 1 week.
*I like the berry flavor to dominate so less chocolate; add more if you want more chocolate flavor.
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Blueberries and/or strawberries and/or plums (I think kiwi would work too.)
any combination or amounts of these fruits
sugar
lemon juice
Wash and hull strawberries. Slicing is optional; I tend to aim for similar size pieces. Rinse and pick over blueberries. Cook berries in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Add 1-2 teaspoon lemon juice per pint of fruit to start. (Unlike raspberries & blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and plums are sweet with minimum tartness so it’s important to add a little acidity). Add about 1 tablespoon of sugar for each pint of fruit. Bring everything to a simmer and turn the heat to low; stir to avoid burning. Taste sauce and add sugar or lemon juice as necessary; much of this depends on the quality of the fruit. Serve warm or cold. Good in the refrigerator for about 1 week.
Note: A simple fruit sauce involves these ingredients without cooking. Just prepare the fruit as above, add lemon juice and double the sugar and let the mixture sit at room temperature for half an hour. Don’t keep for more than one day in the refrigerator.
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Mango notes
-Use ripe mangos, they are juicier.
-Mangos are stringy so it’s best to cube and cook them into a simmer before straining the pulp through a fine mesh strainer or food mill.
-Mangos can be incredibly sweet so taste first, adjust lemon juice and add sugar as needed.
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Apricot notes
-option 1: Roast apricots as described here. Let them cool a few minutes for ease of handling. Break up into whatever consistency you like… cut with a knife for a chunky sauce or puree with a blender or food processor. Add lemon juice to taste
-option 2: Wash and dice apricots; discard pits. Cook over medium heat, stir to avoid scorching. Add lemon juice and sugar to taste. (Honey and cinnamon are good with apricots. Also optional are toasted almond slices.) Again consistency is up to the cook; puree after cooking for a smoother sauce.
Note: Mango and apricot are good together.
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apples and/or pears
-Cheat by doctoring up purchased apple sauce with lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon… and stir in a little butter (optional)
-Fresh: Peel fruit and slice (like apricots, smooth or chunky depends on how size of fruit chunks and how long it’s cooked and post preparation blending). Saute in a little butter over medium-high heat; a little scorching is okay to caramelize the sugar in the fruit or brown the butter. Add lemon juice and sugar to taste. (I’ve tossed in left-over fresh cranberries; no lemon juice, add sugar)
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bananas (not my favorite fruit but the method works)
Similar to apples: cut to evenly sized pieces. Saute in butter over medium-high heat; a little scorching is okay to caramelize the sugar in the fruit or brown the butter. Add lemon juice and sugar to taste.
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Lemon syrup: cook lemon juice over medium high heat. Add sugar to taste. (This is lemonade concentrate. To taste test, spoon a little into a glass with water.) Optional, add some toasted poppy seeds.
Though I haven’t tried them, I suspect grapefruit or blood orange juice would be good this way.
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Try this and let your imagination take off. Enjoy :)
